New research: Patients with the coronavirus also have neurological symptoms

A new pattern has emerged among patients being treated for Covid-19 in New York hospitals - in addition to fever, cough and shortness of breath, some are so disoriented they don't know where they are or what year it is.

Sometimes it's related to low oxygen levels in their blood, but some are confused regardless, reports Hina.

Jennifer Frontera, a neurologist at Langone Brooklyn Hospital, is increasingly concerned about the effects of the coronavirus on the brain and nervous system.

Until now, most people are familiar with the fact that respiratory problems are the "harbinger" of covid-19, but scientific studies are revealing more and more other problems.

Of the 214 analyzed Chinese patients, 36,4 percent had neurological symptoms

A study published last week in the journal JAMA found that 36,4 percent of 214 Chinese patients analyzed had neurological symptoms, from loss of smell to seizures and strokes.

Experts also examined 58 patients in Strasbourg and found that more than half of them were confused and restless, and scans of their brains indicated inflammation, it was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"We've all heard that covid is actually a breathing problem, but it also affects what we care about the most - the brain," said Andrew Josephson, head of the neurology department at the University of California.

"If you get confused, if you can't think, see a doctor. The previous mantra - 'don't come unless you can't breathe' - is probably no longer valid," he said.

Viruses and the brain

It is not entirely surprising that the new coronavirus affects the brain and nervous system as this has been seen with other viruses, including HIV.

Viruses can affect the brain in two main ways, explains Michelle Toledano, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic. One is the triggering of an abnormal immune response, the well-known cytokine storm that causes inflammation of the brain - autoimmune encephalitis. The second is a direct infection of the brain, called viral encephalitis, writes Hina.

Why is this happening? The brain is protected by a membrane that blocks out foreign things, but it can be "pierced". Since loss of smell is one of the common symptoms of the coronavirus, some experts hypothesize that the nasal cavity is the pathway to the brain.

The assumption has not been proven, and the theory is somewhat undermined by the fact that many patients with anosmia do not have serious neurological problems.

Doctors therefore believe, based on existing evidence, that the neurological effects are the result of a cytokine storm rather than brain penetration. In order to prove that the latter happened at all, the virus must be detected in the cerebrospinal fluid.

Neurologists are needed by many who survive covid after being on a ventilator

This has been proven only once so far, in the case of a 24-year-old Japanese man whose case was described in the "International Journal of Infectious Disease". But since this is the only known case so far, and the test for the coronavirus is not yet valid for liquid, scientists are not rushing to conclusions.

All this confirms that more research is needed. But it is certain that neurologists are needed by many who survive covid after being on a ventilator.

American neurologist: We are called for many patients in a confused state

"They call us for a lot of confused patients," says Rohan Arora, a neurologist at Long Island Jewish Forest Hills Hospital.

So far, it is not known whether this neurological damage is more long-term because staying in intensive care units can be a disorienting experience in itself, which is a consequence of many factors, including strong drugs.

However, their recovery seems to take longer than in patients who have suffered a heart attack or stroke.